


Survival of the Fittest

by On_The_Edge_of_Glory



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Gen, Season/Series 01, Season/Series 02
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-02
Packaged: 2019-06-20 03:57:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15525540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/On_The_Edge_of_Glory/pseuds/On_The_Edge_of_Glory
Summary: The world as we know it is over. A new world has arrived and in this world, only the strong survive. Those who can't protect themselves will die. You can't be weak in this new world. This new world feeds from the weak and thrives from the strong. It's survival of the fittest, are you fit enough?





	1. Cinnamon the Horse

**Author's Note:**

> In this story Lizzie doesn't have a sister and her last name is Mason because it'd be just confusing with Merle's son being named Samuel. Merle has two sons, Dean and Sam. This follows season 1 and 2, but I've changed a few things and added in things. If you don't like then don't waste both our times reading, but I do appreciate all reviews and comments, so go ahead and leave them. I also don't do good with writing accents, so if it doesn't sound redneck enough then my apologies. With that said, please enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. :)

Her back was sore from sleeping up in the loft. Her hair smelled of hay and was filled with dust from it. Her clothes wore dirty and torn. She could use a long shower and a change of clothes, but like every day from this past week, she just climbs down from the loft and grabs an apple and a water bottle from the small fridge in the barn. The sound of a hoof hitting the ground, causes her to turn and look at the tan dusty horse nearby. "Here, Cinnamon." The girl says as she holds the apple in her hand for the horse to eat.

The barn is dark and cold, but Lizzie ignores it as she pets the horse's soft muzzle. "One day I'll be brave enough to get out of here." Lizzie tells the horse as she hears a voice outside the barn.

"Hello? A police officer out here."

"Could that be true?" Lizzie wasn't just a regular sixteen-year-old girl. Her father raised her though. When she was able to walk she was handed a gun and learned how to shoot. Since a young age, her father taught her everything about animals and common survival knowledge. For one thing, Lizzie didn't know if that man was lying or not. He could just want her to come out to rape and then kill her. She wasn't going to risk that.

"Can I borrow some gas?" Lizzie hums in thought. His voice was very quiet, which tells her he's near the house. If she doesn't say anything then he would leave, but apart of her wants to open the door. He could be telling the truth.

Lizzie slowly opens the barn doors, her dual pistols at the ready. She walks slowly and casually, while Cinnamon slips out into the corral. "You watch the side, I'm slipping into the back of the house." Lizzie whispers to the horse before heading to the back door and slipping inside. As she walks in she is hit with a sudden wave of death. "Erg, what the hell?" She walks further into her home and stops dead in the living room.

A scream rips through her as she sees her father lying in his chair, his face blown in, while her mother laid down on the ground with her own gunshot to the head. She sees a bite mark on both of their arms and on the wall in blood it says 'God help us.'

"Mama, pa?" Lizzie croaks as she walks towards the dead bodies. "What did you do?"

"Hello?" Lizzie jumps and turns as the front door opens and a man walks in.

"Stay back!" Lizzie orders, the pistol pointed right at him. "I'm not afraid to shoot."

"I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm a policeman. The name's Rick. Rick Grimes." Lizzie eyes the man over. He was dressed in a sheriff deputy outfit, a hat and everything, and even had a gold star on his shirt.

"Elizabeth Mason, but people called me Lizzie or Liz." She tells the officer.

"Are they your parents?"

"They told me to hide in the barn until the herd past. They said they'd come back..." She knew they didn't make it when they didn't come to get her, but she had been so scared to leave the safety of the barn.

"I'm looking for my family." He shows her a picture of a woman and a boy. "My wife Lori and my son Carl." He tells her. "Have you seen them?"

"No, sir, sorry."

"I think they might be going to Atlanta. It's supposed to be safe."

"I heard about it just before the herd came. I can't tell you if it's safe or not, though."

"I need to get there. I need to make sure. The truck out front-"

"It's dead. The battery has been dead for weeks now. It won't take you anywhere."

"What about the horse?"

"Cinnamon? He doesn't trust strangers."

"Maybe you could come with me. Unless... Unless you rather stay here." Lizzie looks around the ruins of her home. Her parents were dead, the house smelled of death, and there wasn't enough food for her to last more than two days. She'd die here if she stayed.

"Let me take a shower and change into fresh clothes and pack. Then I'll go with you." She tells him, causing him to nod. She walks up the stairs and down the hall to the bathroom. The bathroom was still clean and it still worked, for the time being. She stripped out of her dirty clothes and hops into the shower. She washes the dirt, the dust, and grime from her body and hair. Lathering it all up in the lavender shampoo, conditioner, and body wash she has before turning the shower off and drying off. She put her hair up in a towel before going to her room. She pulls on a fresh set of undies and a bra before pulling on a white tank top, one of her red flannels, and a pair of jeans. She slips her cowboy boots on and grabs her bag to pack the rest of her clothes. Once that was set she glances around for anything she could use.  Lizzie grabs her deodorant, her brush, a handful of elastics, her flashlight, her pillow, and a blanket and shoves them into another bag. She towel dried her hair and grabbed her cowboy hat before slipping her backpack of clothes onto her back shoulders and grabs the duffle bag of her other things and heads downstairs.

"Come on, I'll saddle Cinnamon up." Lizzie walks outside and grabs the saddle for Cinnamon, putting it on and buckling it before grabbing the harness and reins and getting them settled. She attached the duffle bag to the horse's saddle, which allows for bag attachments. "Give me that duffle bag, I'll put it on the other side."

"Careful with it."

"Guns? Where did you get all of these?" Lizzie asks as she looks it over.

"Gun safe at my work."

"Maybe you should keep it on your back. I don't want these falling out. Give me the other bag of clothes on you." Rick hands it to her and she puts it on the other side of the saddle. "Okay, I'll lead because he trusts me."

"Okay, I guess." She rolls her eyes as she hops onto the horse.

"Don't worry this doesn't count as riding bitch." Rick raises an eyebrow, but Lizzie ignores him as she holds out a hand. "Come on, we're burning daylight."

"Alright, alright." Rick takes her hand and allows her to pull him up and he moves to sit behind her. "Just go easy, okay? I haven't done this for years."

"Sure, no problem." She clicks her tongue, causing the horse to take off quickly.

"Wow. Wow, easy, easy, Liz." Lizzie snickers and keeps going. "Lizzie."

"Problem?" Lizzie asks as she steers the horse.

"Yeah, you're going to kill me." Lizzie grins.

"Stop being a backseat driver. You're in perfectly good hands." Lizzie says.

"You're doing pretty good considering-"

"I knew they were dead." Lizzie tells him. "I've known the second they closed me in the barn. I knew they were dead. I've accepted it already. I mourned already. Now, I'm just trying to forget what I saw. Now, shut up and enjoy the ride."

*****

By the time they come close to Atlanta Lizzie's hair has dried and now in a ponytail and they were both getting sore. "We're close enough." Lizzie says as she leads the horse off the high way and near the trees.

"We're not going in?"

"No, we are, but we don't know what to expect."

"It's safe-"

"The radio told us Atlanta was safe and had plenty of food and water, but that was weeks ago. The radio has been silent ever since. For all, we know the place could have been taken over. We need to be cautious. For starters, I'm not taking my horse in there if it is taken over, so we're going to leave her in the shade with our things. No point in being weighted down by bags if the place isn't safe enough to stay." She tells Rick as she gets off the horse and ties the reins around a tree.

"I can't leave the guns."

"Sound attracts walkers. What do you think will happen if you fire one of those guns?" Rick looks around the area before looking at Lizzie.

"Anyone could come around."

"Fine." Lizzie says before climbing up the tree above the horse. "Hand me the bag." Rick frowns but does as told and Lizzie places it securely between to limbs, making sure it can't fall. "It'll stay up here, well hidden." Lizzie climbs back down and looks at Rick. "Now, let's head into the big city. Take this, but only for emergencies." Lizzie hands him a pistol, her own dual pistols resting on her right hip and right thigh on a gunbelt. A hunting knife rests on her left hip.

"Okay, let's go."

"We need to be very careful and quiet. We don't know what to expect in there. Stay close to the buildings. If we hear moans or groans then we duck into a building or down an alleyway. Most alleyways have access to the roof and when up there we'll look for a way around."

"Okay."

"But only if there are walkers. Now stick close." Lizzie tells him as they walk the rest of the way down the high way and into the big scary city.

*****

The city looked abandon and straight out of a horror movie. It set Lizzie's nerves right on edge and all her hair standing up. She was glad she didn't take Cinnamon because she could feel the very death in this city. "This is what I was talking about, Rick, the city is abandoned and in ruin. It got taken over." Lizzie whispers. "I wouldn't be surprised if this place is filled with walkers." She says as they round a corner and see a whole hoard. "Like that, come on this way." She rushes down an alleyway as Rick pulls out a gun. "Don't bother, Rick! You'll just waste bullets and attract more attention." She scurries up a yellow later, leading up to a fire escape.

"They're climbing." Rick tells her as she looks down.

"Shit, what about... Well, at least the fall will kill us and not us." She smiles as she starts climbing up the extremely long latter. They make it up to the roof and look around for another exit. "Oh, here, this is an entry." She pulls up the small door on the ground revealing a latter. "Yeah, more latters, come on, let's start climbing down." They climb down the latter and through a building to a door to the outside. They move down the stairs and hurry down to see four walkers moving out in the alley. "Let's get inside that building." She says as she points to a building across from the one they just exit.

She pulls out her knife and stabs one in the skull. "Don't use the gun." She orders as she kills each one. "We don't need to bring them all on us again." She says before opening the door to the building and walking in. They walk into what appears to be a storage room. They could hear something moving in front of the store. "Keep quiet. It might be walkers or even worst, humans. You got to realize, Rick, humans are the worst monsters in this world." She whispers. "Can't trust any of them." They move slowly and find a group of people searching the store. "We should get out of here."

"What if they could help us?" Rick asks.

"Are you nuts? They have weapons."

"We would have more if you let us bring the guns or let me fire mine."

"I told you walkers are attracted to noise. And what would you have done? Walk  **my** horse into this city to be killed and then fire off rounds like an idiot and draw every walker in the state to us?" Rick falls silent at that. "That's what I thought. This isn't safe. We need to get elsewhere." She moves, but her foot hits a bottle, which sends it into the desk, making a loud noise. The group turns and all of them raise their weapons. "Shit."

"Hands where we can see them. Guns down." A blonde orders.

"Wait, wait, we don't mean any harm." Rick goes to say. "My name's Rick Grimes and this is Lizzie Mason. We just have a few questions."

"Elizabeth, but I go by Lizzie or Liz." Lizzie informs, preferring to make her own introductions.

The blonde stares at them with shocked eyes. "Did you say, Grimes?"

"Yes, I'm looking for my wife and son. I lost them before all of this and I just want to find my family." Rick tells her.

"We were told Atlanta was safe, but I'm guessing it was taken over, much like everything else."

"Yeah, the group of us went to the city, but it got overrun. We all went to a pull off, high up in the mountains, to make a camp and be safe. We have a woman name Lori in the group, Lori Grimes and her son-

"Carl?" Rick asks, his voice shaking.

"Yes." Rick swallows his emotions before nodding.

"That's-That's my wife and son."

"We can take you to the group once we're finished here." A black man says. "I'm T-Dog, that's Andrea," He points to the blonde who had done most of the talking. "That's Morales," A Mexican man. "Glenn," An Asian kid, looking a little bit older than Lizzie. "And this is Jacqui."

"We have another man on the roof, keeping the area clear." Andrea tells tell. "Merle Dixon."

"What are you doing in the city if it was taken over?" Lizzie asks them.

"Supplies. We come here for canned food, new clothes, medicine. The pharmacy is just across the street, but we can't find a way inside."

"I can try." Lizzie offers.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, if I can help. Give me a bag to fill." Andrea hands over a backpack, which Lizzie grabs before slipping out the front doors. The streets are empty, so she moves quickly to the building across from the store. The door is locked and she knows what would happen if she smashed a window. As she looks around she sees the window above the door is opened, she just needs to find a way up there. "I could climb the door." She whispered before putting a foot on the doorknob, grabbing the door's wooden doorframe and pulling up. She grabs the window ledge and pushes herself up and through. Once inside she makes quick work of turning off the alarm and unlocking the door.

She gathers a couple of medkits, a thing of bandages, some needles and threads, peroxide, and some protein bars. Anything that looks useful she grabs, including the tape and meds. Once she deems the area picked clean she slips back out and back into the store.

The group has finished their gathering and was waiting for her. "Got a bunch of stuff." Lizzie says as she holds up the stuffed bag.

"Perfect, I'll go get Merle and we can get the hell out of here." Andrea says before heading up the stairs to the roof.

"Excited to see your family, again?" Lizzie asks as she waits for them.

"Yeah." Rick smiles. "Happy that you came?"

"Still debating it."


	2. The Opinions of the Dixons

Lizzie climbs up the tree as Rick explains to them about the guns. She grabs the gun back and let it drop at Rick's feet. "Okay, girl, your turn." Merle calls up.

"I'm not jumping down." She calls as she begins the slow descent.

"I'll catch you."

"Oh, like I'd trust that. I don't even-woah!" Lizzie slips, causing her to fall out of the tree and right into Merle's arms.

"You were saying?" Lizzie looks up at Merle and smiles.

"Thanks for catching me." She says as he lets her down.

"Come on, we got to get back." Morales says, shooting a look at Merle before turning and heading back to their camp.

"He doesn't like you, does he?" Lizzie asks as she noticed the look.

"Not many do." Lizzie looks at Merle, but he ignores the look and follows after the other.

"Who wants to ride with me?" Lizzie asks as she slips onto the horse. Glenn raises a hand, but Jacqui looks at the horse in disgust (city people), T-Dog shook his head, looking a bit frightened of the horse, the only people who look interested are Andrea, Glenn, and Merle. Rick was telling her how his ass still hurts from last time. "Andrea?" The blonde smiles and gets on behind Lizzie.

"Might want to hold on, the girl has no mercy for those who aren't used to riding horses." Rick says just before Lizzie clicks her tongue, causing the horse to take off fast.

"Wow." Andrea wraps her arms around the girl and holds on tightly as they rode. "You sure like to ride fast."

"I like the feeling of the wind and the power that comes with being this fast."

"What's the horse's name."

"His name is Cinnamon." Lizzie tells her as they ride up the road.

"That's a nice name."

"So this group of yours, how big is it?"

"Good size."

"Specifics?"

"The oldest in the group is Dale, he keeps watch over us. Then there's Rick's family and Shane-"

"Rick mentioned Shane. Said they were on the force together and were best friends."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Well, I'm not sure how great of friends they'll be now."

"Why you say that?"

"Don't tell Rick, but Lori's been sleeping with Shane about a week after we've set up camp up here." Lizzie's eyes widen as she looks back at Andrea.

"A week? Seriously?"

"Yeah, I know."

"Jeez, poor guy." Lizzie says as she shakes her head. "What about Merle?"

"What about him?"

"You two together or something?"

"What?"

"Everyone keeps giving him looks, like they're expecting him to go nuts and kill them all."

"He has a temper."

"Doesn't make him a killer."

"No, it doesn't, but not many people see past the temper and his redneck social status."

"What because he's redneck he is automatically white trash?"

"I'm just telling you what everyone thinks."

"What do you think?"

"I think Merle has a good heart and he is a good man who just has a bad temper and sick sense of humor."

"How so?"

"He loves to piss people off and his jokes can be a bit... well tactless."

"Then that makes them the best jokes." Andrea chuckles.

"Yeah, well, not many would agree."

"Do you hold the same opinions of him as everyone else?"

"No."

"So do you just believe he's a good man or do you also believe he's a good lay?"

"Lizzie!" Lizzie laughs and shrugs.

"It's the apocalypse screw who you want. But be honest, have you thought about it?"

"He's all jokes."

"So he flirts with you."

"It's only him joking."

"How do you know? Have you asked him if he wanted to fuck you or are you just assuming he's just joking with you when he flirts."

"I..." That answers Lizzie.

"When he makes jokes what are your response."

"Depends on how bad the joke is. If it's a good joke I'll laugh and if it isn't I'll just roll my eyes and shake my head."

"How about the next time he makes a joke, good or bad, you make one back to him. Watch his reaction."

"He has twin sons, Lizzie."

"Do they hate you?"

"I don't think so."

"How old are they?"

"About your age."

"Then if I were them I'd want my dad happy. I don't think you have to worry about them disliking you."

"It's not that I'm worried about."

"What, are you worried that his sole attention is on his kids and he'll not have the time of day for you? Or are you worried because he has kids it'll be messy and end badly?"

"A little of both."

"Bullshit."

"Excuse me?"

"Merle doesn't seem like the guy to let anything go. If he gets you he won't give up until your his and he's yours. And those kids won't mess that up. He also seems like he knows how to handle his time without them, so don't worry about that. Now, stop finding excuses and just fuck him already."

"Wow, are you sure you're not a Dixon?"

"Why do I sound like one?"

"A little." Lizzie grins.

"Well, I ain't one, but thanks for the compliment."

"You barely know Merle."

"He was willing to catch me and kept that promise. He might not be liked, but I saw that he was constantly watching his surroundings and the people of the group. That shows he has a good heart and I can tell he likes you because he was constantly watching out for you while we were walking out of the city."

"You're observant."

"Yup, one of my skills." Lizzie says as they begin to go up the looping hill.

"We're almost there."

"Great, I'm tired. I could use a nap or something."

"We sleep in tents, but there's plenty of room in my tent with my sister. You can stay there with us and there should be extra sleeping bags, so don't worry about that." Andrea says.

"Thanks." Lizzie grins back at her before looking down the hill. "We're way ahead of them. Maybe we should wait for them?"

"Maybe. Who knows what they'll think if we show up in camp. I mean you are a stranger to them and we're on a horse that I only met an hour ago." Lizzie chuckles as they pull the horse off to a shady spot.

"Do you want to get down and rest your ass? You probably have saddle ass by now."

"Nah, I'll be okay."

"Okay, whatever you say."

"What about you? Do you have anyone you like?" Andrea asks.

"No. Everyone I ever like are gone."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's not that big of a deal." Lizzie shrugs as she runs her fingers through the horse's mane.

"So, Lizzie, how old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"Same age as Carol's daughter."

"Who?"

"There's a woman in our group who I'm friends with and she has a daughter your age named Sophia."

"Oh. Do you have a lot of kids?"

"There's Merle's twins, Rick's son, Sophia, and Morales two kids Eliza and Louis. Louis is ten, while Eliza is fifteen. Carl is sixteen too and Merle's boys are nineteen."

"All around the same age."

"Yeah."

"Who else is in the group?"

"There's Carol, her husband Ed, and Sophia. Then there's Morales, his wife Miranda, and his two kids. T-Dog, Amy my sister, Jim, Jacqui, Glenn, and Dale. Then Shane, Lori, and Carl. And then there's the Dixons, Merle, his brother Daryl, and then the twins. There's some more too, but I don't remember their names too well."

"So it's good size."

"Yeah, we all grown close to over the time spent together."

"Guess you have to be when you see each other every minute of every day." Lizzie says. "So what's the gossip of the camp?"

"Well, there's a line drawn in the sand if you will. One side things the Dixons are good men who help feed us and watch out for us. They go hunting and bring back meat for us and even skin and clean it for us. They also watch the camp and make sure we're safe, kind of like Merle was doing earlier."

"Keep his eye on his surroundings."

"Exactly."

"What's the other side of things?"

"The other side things the Dixons are white trash. They're dangerous and a bomb just waiting to go off. They're reckless, unstable, and volatile."

"What side are you on?" Andrea glances at Lizzie.

"They're good men." Lizzie nods in both understanding and agreement.

"What other drama is going on?"

"Ed, Carol's husband, he's a total lazy slob. He sits on his ass all the time and smokes or drinks the day away. When he's not doing that he's following Carol around and keeping an eye on her as if she is his prisoner and not his wife."

"Abusive?"

"We haven't gotten him in the act, but we've seen bruises."

"I don't like men like that."

"Me either, but there's nothing we can do unless Carol wants us to."

"And I'm guessing she tries to pretend nothing is wrong."

"Yeah." Andrea sighs and Lizzie can see quite clearly that she is upset for her friend.

"Anything else?" Lizzie asks, wanting to move on from Carol's situation.

"There's the Shane and Lori situation, but other than that not really."

"Hmm, too bad, I like good drama."

"Trust me, that'll be plenty of drama." Lizzie grins as they hear the others catching up.

"Took you guys long enough! Let's get going!" Lizzie calls to them as she moves the horse back onto the road and started going ahead again.

"Even though you don't have anyone you're interested in there's still Carl, Dean, and Sam back at the camp."

"Dean? Sam?"

"Merle's twins."

"Oh." Lizzie shrugs. "Are they identical?"

"Down to the very last freckle."

"Damn." Lizzie exhales. "Are they cute?"

"Look like younger versions of their father. Tall, muscular, burly. Dean has long hair, almost to his shoulders now with bangs sweeping across his forehead. Sam has short hair like his uncle, normally spiked up from sweat and water."

"Huh. I like long hair."

"You do?" Lizzie grins.

"It's fun to pull it." Andrea laughs, obviously surprised with how blunt and easy going this girl was. She reminded Andrea a lot of herself at that age. She defiantly was going to enjoy having Lizzie be apart of this group.

As the group entered the camp families begin running to their loved ones as Andrea hops off the horse. "Dad!" Lizzie looks up as Carl runs for his dad, the both of them falling to their knees as they hugged. Lizzie's heart aches as she thinks of her parents. She'd never see them again nor will she ever get to hug them like this.

"You okay?" Andrea asks as Lizzie swallows the lump in her throat.

"Yeah. I'm okay."

"Come on, let's get you settled in."


	3. The Camp

Lizzie didn't like Shane. She didn't like him the second she looked at him. He had a smug overconfident look to him that told Lizzie to hate him. As she walks up to him she hates him even more for the way he's eyeing her over and the horse. "Who's this?" Shane asks as he glances at Andrea, who has yet to leave Lizzie's side.

"This is Lizzie and her horse Cinnamon. She's the one that found Rick and the two found us." Andrea tells Shane.

"You expecting us to take of a horse, girl?" Lizzie didn't like being called girl and she didn't like the attitude.

"No deputy dick lips, in fact, go anywhere near my horse and I'll put a bullet between your eyes. **I'll** be taking care of  **my** horse." The group had grown quiet as they listen to Shane and Lizzie.

"Shane, she's been through a lot and this horse is all she has left." Rick says as he places a hand on Lizzie's back. "Just let her and the horse be."

"That girl needs to learn some respect." Lizzie snarls at Lori as she spoke down to her. "She's dangerous, Rick."

"Lori, shut up." Andrea snaps. "She's a sixteen-year-old girl who has no one left except her horse. All she wants is a safe place to sleep and her horse. Leave her be." Andrea grabs Lizzie hand. "Come on, let's go bring your horse down to the creek and get it washed up." Lizzie glares at Lori, the uppity camp slut, and follows Andrea down to the creek. "Don't mind Lori. She thinks she's something else. All big and important because she's fucking Shane. Just ignore the both of them, okay?" Lizzie nods as she grabs her things from the saddle bag and begins to take the things of Cinnamon to wash him.

*****

The woods are quiet as the Dixons walk through it. The Dixons are soft of their feet, the only sound coming from them is the nearly silent sound of their breathing. The sticks up ahead break, causing Daryl to hold up a hand, signaling for them to stop. One of the twins makes a soft bird call, causing them to look at him. The twins look just alike with the same chestnut hair and sapphire blue eyes, but one has hair that fell to his shoulders, his bangs sweeping across his eyes. The other had short hair, which was spiked in all different direction from the sweat from the heat and his hand running through it constantly. Both boys were dressed in jeans, but the one with the long hair was shirtless, while the other had a muscle shirt with the band Metallica on the front. The shirtless twin was the one who made the call. He made pointed to his combat bow in his hand, causing Daryl to glance at him for a moment and then the deer up ahead of them. He nods and ever so slowly and quietly the boy pulls back the string. He loads his arrow and fires. The arrow flies through the air with a hiss before piercing the buck right through the eye. It drops like a sack of potatoes.

"Aw-" Daryl covers the boy's mouth and looks in a direction. He moves quickly and fires, hitting another deer, this one a doe, but it hits it in the upper thigh. The other twin moves and fires an arrow with his own crossbow, hitting in the stomach. The first twin fires another arrow in the stomach. The deer runs ahead, but they know it'll drop eventually.

"It looks like it's heading towards camp." The second twin says.

"I'll carry the buck." The first says as he hops over the fallen tree towards the clearing where the deer rests.

"Dean." The twin stops and turns.

"Yeah?"

"Have Sam help you. It'll be heavy."

"I'm no pussy, Daryl."

"Not saying you are. Just let him help." Dean rolls his eyes and nods before heading towards the deer. The second twin, Sam, hops over the log and helps lift the buck.

"Come on, let's get going. Camp's an hour away and night is falling." Dean says as Sam smiles.

"Sure thing, little brother. Now come on, get going." Dean throws a glare over his shoulder as they walked through the woods.

"Do you think Andrea kept dad warm while we were gone."

"Ew, gross." Sam says as he makes a face. "I rather not think of Andrea fucking dad."

"I'm just glad I don't share a tent with him. Who knows what the mess will be when we get back." Daryl throws his own glare at Dean, causing him to smile. Dean could use time back at camp. He loved hunting, but hunting with Daryl and Sam isn't the same. Daryl is always so quiet without Merle around to mess around him and Sam is always to cheerful and energetic for Dean to keep up with. Sam's the cheerful, hyper, sweet twin. Always trying to keep peace like their uncle Bow and it is almost as if nothing can upset him. Dean is quieter like his uncle and moody, but he's also short-tempered like his dad and likes to start fights. The twins were identical, but complete opposites. They're close, but sometimes they need their space.

Dean likes hunting with Merle the most because when they hunt they make it fun with jokes and stories at night when they set up camp, while also have a quiet time for hunting. Dean was closer to his dad than Sam was. Dean hated being away from his dad for long. Sam got along with everyone, but he was never daddy's mini-me like Dean is.

"I'm sure dad's fine, Dean." Sam speaks up. Their dad had mentioned he was going into the city for the planned trip three days after they were to leave for hunting. Merle didn't want the twins to go alone with hunting, have them go with him in the city, or have either of them staying at camp alone. Daryl going hunting alone was a possibility, but they all knew that the twins wanted to go hunting, so Merle went on his own. Dean has been worried about him since yesterday, the day he was supposed to go into the city. The city was dangerous and all he can think about was something happening to his dad. "Dean."

"I know, but I'll feel better when I see him." Dean says as they come to cross path.

"The deer went this way, but why don't you two take that buck up the other way, it's quicker to camp where you can get it skinned, dressed, and cleaned." The twins nod before going to the left path, while Daryl goes right. Dean grunted as he moves the buck further on his shoulder.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, just heavy." Sam nods, despite Dean not being able to see, and picks up his speed so they can get back quicker.

"Dean, just out of curiosity..."

"Yeah?"

"Do you think Andrea's good for dad?" Neither boy really paid much attention to the women that catch their father's eyes. Most of them were whores and didn't last more than a couple of nights. But Andrea they knew wasn't the usual type of girls their dad went for. For one thing, the women would have slept with their dad by now. Their dad is actually waiting and respecting her enough to wait for her. She also gives a shit about them, while most women barely even glanced their way. She also stood up for them on more than one occasion. She was different, but neither twins could find a fault in her.

"She might be just what we've always wanted for dad." Dean admits. "That is once she realizes what her feelings mean."

"What if she's holding back because of us?"

"How so?"

"Maybe she doesn't actually want to deal with us."

"I thought you were supposed to be the optimistic one." Dean says.

"I just... This is the first girl that dad liked that might be good for us."

"Andrea likes us and she likes dad. If she already knows her feelings then she might just think dad doesn't mean what he does."

"How so?"

"You know dad. He'll fuck anything with tits and a pussy. She might not realize he feels more for her than that."

"You're saying she's waiting for dad to come to her and tell her how he feels?"

"I know, dad and feelings, never going to happen, but who knows." Dean shrugs.

"I just wished Amy didn't have to come with her." Dean groans at the mentioned of the blood.

"I can't stand that bitch. If she tried to get in my pants one more time I'm going to hit her." Sam snorts knowing Dean would never raise a hand to a woman, they were raised better than that.

"You know, for someone so close to dad, you sure aren't much like him."

"What do you mean? I have his love of fighting and his temper."

"But you're quiet and withdrawn like Daryl and you don't sleep around like dad does."

"You're one to talk. Do you even like pussy." Sam glares at the back of Dean's head.

"Of course I do."

"Name one girl in the camp you'd fuck."

"The Mexican chick."

"What?" Dean turns, dropping his half of the buck to the ground.

"Shit, Dean." Sam groans before giving up and letting his half drop.

"She's fifteen."

"So? She's hot and she already hit puberty, so it's not weird. She has tits and everything."

"She's four years younger than you."

"Yeah and Andrea is thirty-six, while dad's fifty-one. She's fifteen years younger."

"But that's different. Their adults. We're still teens."

"Who cares. She's not a kid. It's not like I'm into pedophilia."

"I'm so telling dad you want to fuck a fifteen-year-old."

"Shut up you fuck rag." Sam snaps, causing Dean to laugh.

"Just help me with this deer, you pedophile."

"Dick." Sam grumbles as he lifts the deer with Dean. Dean chuckles before the two burst through the trees. The group turns as they see the twins walk out.

"Wow, look at the buck!" Louis shouts with a big smile.

"There's your future brother-in-law." Dean grins before falling as Sam kicks the back of his knees. "Little fucker." Dean turns and kicks Sam's knees, causing him to yelp in pain, dropping the rest of the deer and falling.

"You boys are only back for a few minutes and already you're fighting." They both look over to see their dad standing there.

"Hey, dad." The twins greet together.

"Get up, you idiots." Merle pulls them both up and motions to the deer. "Go clean this buck before I kick your asses."

"Yes, sir." Dean grumbles as Sam sighs. "Wow, who the fuck is that?" Dean asks as he sees the little blonde sitting beside Andrea. She had her hair in a ponytail and a big smile on her face as she talked to Andrea.

"Lizzie. Found her in the city with-get this-Lori's husband, Shane's best bud." Dean and Sam's eyes widen.

"Holy shit, seriously?" Dean asks with excitement in his eyes.

"Oh yeah, expect a fun couple of days."

"Oh, I'm looking forward to it. Olive oil is finally going to get what's coming to her and Shane-oh I hope he gets his ass beaten." Sam says with excited eyes.

"For a kid who is a pacifist you sure love a good scene." Merle grins.

"Are you kidding? After that crack, Shane made the other day he deserves this shit." Merle's face hardens at the reminder.

"If the fucker tries that shit again I'll kill him." Merle growls before Sam spoke up.

"Look, it's fine, but we gotta get this deer butchered before tonight. I want some venison steaks." Sam grins.

"Got it, get going and I'll make you some tonight." Merle grins, causing Sam to jump with excitement. He loved venison steaks. As the boys headed down to the creek Merle went to help Daryl with getting rid of the doe after the walker bit into it. Overall the day seemed to be an equal amount of efficiency and annoyance.


End file.
